Delaware Grapevine: Legislative races to watch

The Delaware General Assembly appears to have a dozen meaningful races at this stage in the 2010 campaign season, all but one of them in the House.

Celia Cohen, Political columnist

The more things change in politics, the more the state Senate stays the same. It has had a Democratic majority since Richard Nixon was president.

The state House of Representatives is different. The Democrats only took over in 2008, after 24 years of Republican control, and the Republicans want the majority back.

All in all, the Delaware General Assembly appears to have a dozen meaningful races at this stage in the 2010 campaign season, all but one of them in the House.

As usual, the Senate is out of reach for the Republicans. There are simply not enough competitive races for them to overtake the Democrats, who currently outnumber the Republicans by 15-6.

The House has a possibility of going Republican, but only if a lot of races break their way. The Republican deficit of 24-17 is actually worse than it looks, because four Republican representatives retired, two of them in chancy districts.

Still, if the House Republicans are to regain the majority, this is the time to do it. The voters are in an anti-government, anti-incumbent mood, and the president’s party typically sustains losses mid-term.

Here is a region-by-region rundown of the key races. The Senate has 11 of its 21 seats up for election. The House has all 41 of its seats on the ballot.

BRANDYWINE HUNDRED

6th Rep: Republican Rep. Tom Kovach against Democrat Debra Heffernan

The district flipped to the Democrats in 2004 but went back to the Republicans in a special election in 2008. Anything goes.

The Democratic high tide in 2008 brought Williams in. The Democratic ebb tide in 2010 could wash him out.

WILMINGTON

Forget about it. The city is lopsidedly Democratic with about two-thirds of the voters registered that way. Of the four Democratic legislators up for election, only three of them even have a Republican opponent.

SUBURBAN NEW CASTLE COUNTY

9th Rep: Democrat Becky Walker against Republican John Marino

With the retirement of Rep. Richard Cathcart, the Republican minority leader, this seat is a potential pickup for the Democrats.